The warning from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) – an umbrella organization for provincial securities regulators – came amid already highly volatile cannabis stock prices crashing to a 12-month low.

The Canadian Marijuana Index, a basket of stocks representing the cannabis sector, has fallen more than 40% since mid-October.

“We do see a higher incidence of problematic practices among venture issuers, and particularly among issuers involved in emerging industries like cannabis, fintech and battery metals,” the CSA said in a statement to Marijuana Business Daily.

The notice did not single out any cannabis companies, but experts say many of the practices it warns against have been observed in the industry.

Jason Zandberg, analyst at PI Financial in Vancouver, British Columbia, said unscrupulous actors making unsubstantiated claims to benefit stock prices is part of any rising equity market.

“There is no doubt that cannabis has been one of those rising-tide moments and there have been many misleading promoters abusing the widespread investor enthusiasm,” he said.

“I hope the (CSA) does more than just release notices to limit these practices.”